West: A Translation
by Rekdal, Paisley
- New
- Paperback
- first
- Condition
- New
- ISBN 10
- 1556596561
- ISBN 13
- 9781556596568
- Seller
-
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
3 Copies Available from This Seller
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About This Item
Port Townsend: Copper Canyon Press, 2023. First edition. Paperback. New. 178pp. Octavo. Pictoral wraps. "Punctuated by historical images and told through multiple voices, languages, literary forms and documents, West: A Translationexplores what unites and divides America, drawing a powerful, necessary connection between the completion of the transcontinental railroad and the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943).
In 2018, Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal was commissioned to write a poem commemorating the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad. The result is West: A Translation—an unflinching hybrid collection of poems and essays that draws a powerful, necessary connection between the railroad's completion and the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943). Carved into the walls of the Angel Island Immigration Station, where Chinese migrants to the United States were detained during the Chinese Exclusion Act, is a poem elegizing a detainee who committed suicide. As West translates this anonymous Chinese elegy character by character, what's left is a haunting narrative distilled through the history and lens of transcontinental railroad workers, and a sweeping exploration of the railroad's cultural impact on America. Punctuated by historical images and told through multiple voices, languages, literary forms and documents, West explores what unites and divides America, and how our ideas about American history creep forward, even as the nation itself constantly threatens to spiral back.
West is accompanied by a website (www.westtrain.org) which features video poems and encourages self-exploration of the transcontinental railroad's history through an interactive, non-linear structure. Pairing this urgent book and innovative website, Rekdal masterfully challenges how histories themselves get written and disseminated. The result is a tour de force of resistance and resilience." -From the publisher.
In 2018, Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal was commissioned to write a poem commemorating the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad. The result is West: A Translation—an unflinching hybrid collection of poems and essays that draws a powerful, necessary connection between the railroad's completion and the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943). Carved into the walls of the Angel Island Immigration Station, where Chinese migrants to the United States were detained during the Chinese Exclusion Act, is a poem elegizing a detainee who committed suicide. As West translates this anonymous Chinese elegy character by character, what's left is a haunting narrative distilled through the history and lens of transcontinental railroad workers, and a sweeping exploration of the railroad's cultural impact on America. Punctuated by historical images and told through multiple voices, languages, literary forms and documents, West explores what unites and divides America, and how our ideas about American history creep forward, even as the nation itself constantly threatens to spiral back.
West is accompanied by a website (www.westtrain.org) which features video poems and encourages self-exploration of the transcontinental railroad's history through an interactive, non-linear structure. Pairing this urgent book and innovative website, Rekdal masterfully challenges how histories themselves get written and disseminated. The result is a tour de force of resistance and resilience." -From the publisher.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Ken Sanders Rare Books, ABAA (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 64752
- Title
- West: A Translation
- Author
- Rekdal, Paisley
- Format/Binding
- Paperback
- Book Condition
- New
- Quantity Available
- 3
- Edition
- First edition
- ISBN 10
- 1556596561
- ISBN 13
- 9781556596568
- Publisher
- Copper Canyon Press
- Place of Publication
- Port Townsend
- Date Published
- 2023
- Keywords
- poetry; rwxmas2023
Terms of Sale
Ken Sanders Rare Books, ABAA
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About the Seller
Ken Sanders Rare Books, ABAA
Biblio member since 2006
Salt Lake City, Utah
About Ken Sanders Rare Books, ABAA
Ken Sanders Rare Books is a full service antiquarian bookshop in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. We carry an ever-changing inventory of art, ephemera, maps, photography, and postcards in addition to a vast selection of used and rare books along with a few new books. We actively purchase and appraise books in all fields.
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